Fodder-cutter.



J. DICK.

FODDER CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.16, 1912.

1,046,449. 7 Patented Dec. 10,1 912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

v Inventor Jose 19h Dial;

. J. DICK.

FODDER CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED .PEB.16. 1912v 1,046,449. Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET Z.

I JOSEPH DICK, F CANTON, OHIO.

FODDER-CUTTER.

To all whom it may concern. V I

Be it known that I, JOSEPH DICK, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Canton,

in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Fodder- Cutters, of which the following isaspecification. The invention relates to machines for cutting fodder andother forage, as, for inparticular type of machines in which the Icutting knife 0 stance, corn stalks and the like, and to that cuttingknives and fan "flights are secured on a wheel within a pneumatic blowercase and in which the knives shear against the edge of a, cutter'barsecuredin one side of the case; and the improvement pertains to theconstruction and shape of the cutting knives for' better adapting themto the extraordinary shocks and shearing strains imposed upon them inthis particular combination.

The purposes of the inventipn, thus set forth in general terms, areattained by the preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is afragmentary elevation section, substantially as on' line 1-1,'Fig. 2,

of a fodder cutter, showing the general arrangement and location of theparts; Fig. 2, a fragmentary'side elevation, mostly in section, of theblower case showing the outer flat 'side of the cutting-knives; Fig. 3,a fragmentary plan section of the fodder cutter on line -33, Fig. 1,further illustrating the location and arrangement of the parts; Fig. 4,an inner side ,view of tl' cutting knife; Fig. 5, a section'of thecutting knife on line 55, Fig. 4, showi g a side view of the spacingpost and Fig. 6, a section of the line 6+6, Fig. 4:, showing in sectionthe s curing bolt and the spacing post.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.Well-known construction of this type of fodder cutters includes a blowercase com- 1 posed of circular side plates 1, clamped in "-the fanflights in one side of which case is secured the Sta-- spaced relationby the peripheral band 2 and carrying tli e bearings 3 and 3? for theaxial shaft 4 o the wheel 5w ich carries b and the cuttin tionary cutterbar 8.

The cutting knives 7 are spaced from and secured to the wheel 5 by meansof the tubu:

Specification of Letters Patent.

' revolutions per; minute.

knives 7;

Patented Deci10,1912.

' Application filed FebruaryiG, 1912. Serial No. 678,042.

lar posts 9 and the bolts 10, and the cam plates 11 are provided betweenthe tubular posts and the wheel for adjusting the knives to and from theWheel, sothat the cutting edge 12 of each knife will properly 1sohearagainst the inner edge 13 of the cutter ar 8. f

The outer ends of the spacing posts are slightly beveled and abuttheinner sides of the cutting knives adjacent to the rear edge 14 thereof,and the preferred arrangement of these parts involves the use of two ormore of'such posts s aced apartand abutting the rear half only of the;inner side of the cutting knife, thus leaving the forward half of theinnerside of the cutting knife entirely free for cutting through a bunchof fodder, and providing the maximum. amount of space between theknife'and thewheel intermediate and outside the spacing posts for theassing of the cuttings.

. An e cient operation of machines of this type'for properly cutting thefodder by the knives and ejecting the cuttings from the case by the fanflights, requires the. wheel to be rotated from eight to twelve hundreddesirable, if not necessary,.that the outer flat side of each cuttingknifeshould be obliquely inclined from the rotating plane of itscuttingedge, as by the beveled ends of the spacing posts, as well shownin Figs. 5 and 6, so that the cutting edge only will shear against theedge of the cutter bar;

It is furthermore.

and, forthe purpose of insuring a pressing contact between the edges ofeach cutting knife and the cutter bar for the'most efficient shearingaction, it is practically desirable, if not necessary, to so adjust eachcutting knife that the cutting edge thereof will be slightly deflectedby a flexionof the adjacent ortion of theknife, when shearing against tecutter bar, thus requiring a slight lateral elasticity'in this portionof the knife. Without such elasticity, it is difficult, if notimpossible, to properly adjust the knives without having their cuttingedges nicked or turned by contact with the cutter bar.

On the other hand, the severe shocks and the twisting and lateral.strains imposedupon the knife by cutting through a bunch of fodder-witha pressing shearing action 2 Y this portion of the blade should be rigidand inflexible to properly hold the cutting edge to its work and topreventa breaking ofthe knife by the extraordinary shocks and strainsimposed upon it. The same extraordinary ,shocks' and.

' strains, coupled with the centrifugal forcedeveloped by the rapidrotation, renders it outer side alon necessary to make a knife of thischaracter out of one piece of metal or the equivalent thereof; andaccordingly it has been the practice" to combine the greater strength ofa softer metal with the enduring edge of-a harder-'fnetah'by making thebodyof'the knife out of wrought iron and inlaying the and adjacent tothe cutting edge with a strip of steel as 15, the different metals beingjoined or welded together in the process of rolling the bars but ofwhich the knives are made so as to form a substantially integral orone-piece. structure.

- sary The present invention involves the makingort shaping of theforward portion of each knife 'ofsubstantially uniform thickness butsufficiently thin to give the necesor desirable lateral fleznbility orelasticity required for the most'efiicient work,

- and to' make or shape the-rearward securing portion of the knife ofsufiicient thickness to we the necessary inflexibility or rigidity forholding the cutting edge to its,- work and preventing a breaking of theknife. For instance, it has been found that an ordinary size of cuttingblades for fodder cutters of this type, having a length of aboutthirteen inches and a width of about three and one-fourth inches, shouldhave a thickness of about two-tenths of an inch in that or-- tionadjacent to the cutting edge, w ich maywell be called the forwardportion, and.

a thickness of about three-tenths of an inch in that half or portionadjacent to'the back edge of the knife, which may .well be called thesecuring portion, .to give the elasticity in the forward portion and therigidity in Ies'ecuring' portion of the knife which it is.

the object of the present invention to attain. Or more gen'erally,therelative thickness of the forward portion and the rearward secub ingportion'of the cutting knife,"should be as two to three; although anincreased relative thickness of the securing portion is'negligible whenthe forward portion is thin enough to give the' deslired resilience forthe purposes-herein set forth. Audit is evident that ancillary"ad-vantages arise from the peculiar shape of the knife, thus setfort-h, 'imthat'the thinner forward portion is enabled to cut throughthe thicker stalks or bunches of forage'with a minimum spreading ofthesevered parts; andv a saving is the side of the wheel, the knifebeingmade of one piece and having a flat outer-side and 'aforwardcutting edge, spacin posts be tween. the wheel and the knife'a uttingtherear portion of the inner side of the knife, whereby the cutting edgethereof will shear against the bar, the forward cutting portion of theknife being made of substantially uniward securing portion thereof, topermit a .form thickness but thinner than the rearpressmgcontact of thecutting edge against the cutter bar in. the shearing actlon;

JOSEPH DICK. Witnesses:- I

RAY F. KOHL, RUTH AIMmR,

